And Here I Wait
by hsps1997
Summary: Clare Roth has watched her parents change for years. But when a new wolf pack moves to town that may have answers to a permanent cure she has to make a decison. Should she help her parents? Or fall in love?
1. Chapter 1: Mom is Gone

I walked through the front door and saw my mother standing in the middle of the living room with the back door wide open. She had a shocked look on her face and her hands were shaking. I ran to her trying to comfort her as she fell to the ground. By now her whole body was trembling over come by some illness. Or some animal. I reached down and held her hand attempting to bring some warmth into her cold figure. Before I could process what was happening she began to transform. I closed my eyes trying to prevent the inevitable. She transformed into something so far away and so different that it was hard to remember her as she was before. Her long wavy blonde hair. The way she looked at Dad, me, and even her little red coffee pot. And her brown eyes. _Her eyes. _The eyes that stayed the same through every shift. The eyes that identified what wolf would turn into what human in the spring.

When I opened my eyes what I saw before me was not my mother but a little gray wolf with brown eyes. I released her now paw and watched her run through the open back door that had caused her to change in the first place. I stood up from my place on the ground and went to the door to close it. The closure to the summer.

I climbed the stairs up to my room and shut my door. The last thing I needed was for Isabel or Cole to walk in. They had recently moved in to the little house that Dad and I had built last summer. They had just gotten married in a small wedding with only one photographer and few guests. This was to Isabel's dismay but needed to happen since Cole St. Clair's location was still unknown to the rest of the world. The newlywed's had moved in late last spring. They rarely came out of their house now for two reasons. One, Cole was trying to prevent turning into a wolf as he was working on "the single best immunization that can only be used to stop humans from turning into a werewolf in the cold weather ever" because our immune systems had started to become resistant to the virus. Two, Isabel had announced her pregnancy early summer which meant that she couldn't be seen out of the house in case "somebody she knew form school saw her in this dreaded condition". This was to her dismay as well. Although my parents' love for me was visible and Isabel was very much aware of there happiness she was still uneasy on the whole a-little-me-is-going-to-depend-on-me thing. Yet she knew that she couldn't give her baby up so started to endure the positives and negatives of pregnancy. And since Cole was Cole, as Isabel's hormones intensified, so did his. So even though an adult was the very thing I needed in my life, the only two people I could trust were at the bottom of my people-I-want list.

I made my way over to my hanging chair that looked out the window. Through the window you could see the starting point of the forest and though the wolves rarely ventured to the front of the woods, on rare occasions a wolf would be spotted. Now I could see my mom heading towards the trees that would be her home for the next few months. At the edge of the forest I could barely make out another wolf that seemed to be waiting for my mother deciding if she should leap to the woods or stay behind to protect me. After considering this for a few minutes she made her choice and sprang to the forest as if she was naked and the trees were her only protection. I didn't feel hurt though because this happened every year and every time she made the same decision. I wasn't afraid for her because I knew that when Dad and Mom had moved the wolves to the peninsula they made sure it was safe. Also, because as she turned to run into the depths of the forest the wolf following her stared up to my window letting me see its human eyes before catching up to her. And in that moment I saw a flash of yellow, a strange, unique color for eyes. My dad's eyes.

Screaming. I heard the distant sound of someone, or something, in pain. As I became more aware of my surroundings I realized that what I believed was screaming was actually a howl. I recognized it as Dad's howl, which was in the same octave as his human voice. One after another the other depressed howls of the wolves joined in forming a beautiful melody. I turned over on my bed to better face the window and clock revealing that it was 3:00 am. The moonlight shone through the night forming a white-silver streak across my bed. I rested my hands underneath my pillows and discovered that my face was sticky and wet with tears. It was times like these that I wished that the curse of the wolf never ran through our blood. It was also when I wanted Cole to find the cure and find a different medicine than the Meningitis, one that our bodies wouldn't reject. One that would last forever.

I must've fallen back asleep because the next sound that I woke up to was my alarm clock going haywire. I pressed the off button and headed to my closet. I found a dark purple tee and some jeans. I pulled out my gray converse from underneath the bed and headed towards the bathroom to finish getting dressed. When I headed downstairs my sharp senses picked up on a familiar scent, one that was sweet, fruity, and a little bitter. I rounded the corner and saw Isabel. She was cooking pancakes although, half of them could be compared to batter and the other half you could place in fire and it still wouldn't burn.

"Hello?" I asked daring her to reply.

"Hey sweetie," she said in a fake nice tone. " I heard about your mom. So, I decided to come over and make you some food. They smell delicious." She patted her belly nonchalantly absorbing the first meal that she probably had made in months.

To prove a point I opened the cupboard and grabbed a package of cereal. She stopped flipping the pancake that was on the spatula and turned off the burners.

"Thanks anyway Aunt Iz, I really appreciate it," I said truthfully kissing her on her cheek as I headed towards the table.

Isabel sighed and sat down across from me picking up the cereal box and examining the contents. She placed the box down, sighed again, looked around nervously, and said, " Clare I know both of your parents leaving you every year is probably hard and I know that you may not feel like going to school so it's O.K. to take a break if you want. I don't mind."

Actually the last thing I wanted to do was stay at home. I needed out. Now.

I stood up and took my bowl to the sink, " I'll consider it."

Isabel gave a short nod that signaled that the conversation was over and moved from the table to the couch. I ran up the stairs and brushed my teeth. Then, I came back down to grab my backpack, say goodbye and head out the front door.

To get to the bus from the cabin you had to meander through the path and open the gate that led everybody else to the small peninsula and wolves. Then you had to walk down the road for ½ mile and go to the end of the street. This was where the bus stop was and where my best friend Poppie spent her days. She hated her mom so came to the bus stop as early as possible and stayed there until the sky went black. There was a little bench so she would sit there and do things such as her homework or apply her makeup.

Today she sat on the bench in red jean capris and a low cut belly shirt. She was a part of the dress wearing, high heel walking, perfectly combed hair cheerleaders that roamed our school. Yet she was as far off from them as she could be. She hated pink, dresses, heels, and rocked blue hair. I arrived at the stop just as the bus pulled up and she boarded the ride without seeing me. I climbed on the bus along with the other kids and headed towards our regular seat six rows back from the entrance.

I almost walked straight into her before I realized that Poppie was standing in the aisle arms across her chest. I looked towards our row and saw an unfamiliar boy sitting comfortably there staring at Poppie. She was saying something about how he was stuck up, a jerk, and a few other profanities that I won't mention. I followed her lead and crossed my arms giving the poor boy the death glare. That's when I caught a sniff of something aromatic and addicting. But there was something underneath something that smelled a bit like trees, autumn, and wolf. I wanted him to explain himself.


	2. Chapter 2: New Boy

The bus driver gave us an evil glare and motioned for us to sit down. I tapped Poppy on the back but she was to busy yelling to pay attention. She was looking very pleased that the boy was listening to her but I could see that he wasn't staring at her, but through her, and had an earphone in his right ear.

"Hey," I called out, " what's your name?"

Now he paid attention obviously catching a sniff of the wolf smell that still lingered on my body from the previous night. Before answering he took the green earphone out and paused the song he was listening to. "Evan," he sighed as if it were a hard thing to say and pained him. "What about you?"  
>"Clare Roth. Don't wear it out," I said flatly, glad that being around Isabel and Cole had turned out to be a good thing when it was time to use comebacks.<p>

Poppy turned around to me and frowned clearly unhappy that I was making friends with her new arch nemesis. "Now that we've all had a nice warm welcoming party can we please make _Evan_ move out of our seat?"

With a polite nod he stood up, grabbed his grey and black backpack, and moved to the seat behind him. Poppy pushed her way into the seat giving Evan a look that could kill if it was directed at you. Rolling my eyes I sat down next to her observing that this boy did not smell like the familiar woods behind my house. Let alone any woods in Mercy Falls.

Once I got off the bus I headed to my locker to dump my stuff and grab my History supplies along with a calculator so I could finish my math homework during one of Mrs. McNash's boring lessons. After enduring an hour of History lectures based on stuff that I had learned about in one of Mom's nonfiction books and another hour of Geometry with Mr. Berkling I made my way to the gymnasium.

I pushed my way through the crowded locker room trying to avoid getting spritzed with perfume and trying not to inhale the sharp scent of Juicy mixed with sweat. By the time I found an empty locker to dump my clothes into I was already three minutes late to class. But before I had a chance to change out of my regular clothes I felt a sudden wave of nausea. My stomach was doing so many flips and cartwheels that it would've won first place in any gymnastics competition. I ran to the bathroom and before I puked I felt a cool hand on my neck pulling up my hair.

I grabbed the toilet paper roll that was handily on top of the dispenser not in it and wiped my mouth throwing the paper in the toilet. I flushed the toilet and turned around expecting to see a teacher or a fellow 9th grade girl who was late to class as well. Instead I smelt a familiar wolf smell that made my stomach do flips again but in a different way.

"What are you doing here?" I said accusingly at the fact that Evan was in the girls' locker room and not in class.

"I stopped by to say hello on my way to the track?" he replied with more of a questioning tone to an answer. I couldn't help but stare at the cute smirk that had made its way onto his face but quickly looked down at my feet when I realized that I had been staring at his lips.

Sighing, I turned to walk out of the room and made my way across the gym floor. I heard soft footsteps behind me swishing on the shiny wooden floor.

"Where you going?"

"To the nearest exit without a camera pointing directly at it."

"So you're sneaking out?"

"Yes, for some reason running around the track field a couple of times doesn't sound too appealing when my stomach feels like it is trying to claw its way out of my body."

With a small smile Evan followed me out of the door to the empty field behind the school. No one figured to put a security camera here because the field was large and if you were lucky enough to make your way across the field without getting caught then the massive ten-foot tall fence would surely stop you. Also, the field was used for senior football practice. But today the field was clear and the little hole in the fence hadn't been fixed.

"Since I am ditching school with you could you please tell me where we are going?" Evan whined some where behind me. For how muscular he looked he sure was having a hard time catching up.

I stopped before the hole and turned back to wait for the panting Evan to arrive. He turned around too and looked back at the field that we had just traversed, proud that we had made it this far. Before he could stand next to me I crawled through the hole and waited for him on the other side. I heard the soft brush of dirt against skin and a noise that sounded like fabric ripping.

Finally, he comes through the hole and I notice that he has a small rip in the seam of his shoulder. "Where do you want to go?" I ask looking down at my feet, kicking up dirt. My blue converses are coated with mud and the backsides are falling off but I refuse to through them away. My dad bought them for me after his first album made the top twenties list and his book made the top five. He kept the receipt from them and has it on his nightstand. Had, I guess, since the early signs of winter have already claimed his human body.

Taking me out of my thoughts, Evan says, "I know just the place. But you have to trust me."

"It's a little nerving that you had to say 'you have to trust me' after your sentence."

Taking my hand Evan leads me out from behind the fence into the school parking lot and across to the main road. We follow the path bordering Boundary Wood and take a sudden right going into the woods. We arrive at a huge house. Evan takes a key out from his pocket and casually unlocks the door leading us into the foyer. It is small and cramped and more like a mudroom than anything else. He kicks off his shoes and motions me to do the same. We then go out of the room to a little hallway. I see some stairs to my left that must lead up to the next level. Straight ahead are a dated kitchen and a T.V. room. To my right is a study.

"What is this place?" I ask keeping my hands close to my body because if I put them out too far they'll smack against the wall.

"Clare," Evan says acting like a real estate agent, " welcome to my house. It is a 5 bedroom 3 ½ bath with a lovely kitchen and wonderful view. I think you will find it quite cozy."

Rolling my eyes I walk down the narrow hallway into the kitchen. It has old tile counters and old appliances. The only things that are modern are the microwave and coffee maker which both seem out of place. I walk through a door that leads to a dining room that overlooks the backyard. Evan arrives behind me with a family-size bag of potato chips and two root beers. He sits at the table with his foot underneath him and leans his elbows on the table and puts his face in between his hands. Seeing him look so casual makes my stomach twist and I turn back to the window.

After a few minutes he starts to talk making me jump, "Are you going to tell me why you were throwing up earlier today or am I going to have to ask?"  
>I turn back to him and see that he's not looking at me but past me out into the backyard. There is a small garage that I hadn't noticed before. I shrug, "The flu?"<p>

He hesitates before saying, "Is it the flu or something that you and I both know is totally unrelated to that?"  
>A lump suddenly emerges in my throat that refuses to go away no matter how much I swallow. The tone in his voice is suggesting that he knows more. A thought about him knowing our secret flashes across my mind even though I know that there is no possible way that he could know about the wolves. "What do you mean?"<p>

"I mean," he said looking down at the nicks in the table, " is it the wolf, signaling that you're about to shift?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," I said scratching my arm.

"C'mon Clare you know exactly what I'm talking about. Stop pretending like you don't."

The way that my name sounded when he said it almost made me tell him but the wolf instincts in me took control of my judgment. I shook my head and grabbed my root beer and started towards the door back to the kitchen. I walked down the long, narrow hallway in a half walk half run. I wanted to get out of here as quickly as possible.

"If it makes you feel any better I'm one, too. A wolf I mean," he called down the hall. I bent down to pick up my shoes and almost ran right into another man. He was pretty tall, around 6' 2" or 6'3", and was a spitting image of Evan. Or I should say Evan was a spitting image of him. Everything from their short wavy brown hair, to their broad shoulders, and even their light brown eyes with flecks of green were the same.

"Sorry I was just leaving," I mumble.

"That's okay, stay awhile," the man said turning me around and pushing me back down the hall. The halls are painted a deep, forest green, that makes it feel like the walls are closing in around me. At the end of the hall is Evan, leaning against the doorframe, with a smirk on his face.

"Thanks dad," Evan says giving his dad a small nod. "This is Clare Roth. Sam and Grace's daughter."

The way that he referred to my parents by their first names and knew exactly who they were and my connection to them without me ever telling him about them was making me nervous. I started to bite on my nails, a habit that Isabel and Cole both agreed to be unattractive making me vow to stop. My parents had said that it was fine, that a lot of people did it. I remember that night being sent to my room because my parents and the St. Clair's were having an argument, something that was very rare. They didn't realize that in the old cabin you could hear almost anything happening, anywhere in the house, through the vents.

Isabel had said, "When Clare grows up nobody will like that ugly habit. She won't ever get a boyfriend if she does that in public."

My mom, sounding calm and sure of herself like she always did, replied, "When you have a child you'll understand. You'll love them no matter what their weird habits are. You just accept them." I never realized until now how much admiration she put into the sentence.

I could hear Isabel scoff through the vent. I held my breath until I could no longer hear the click of her heels against the floorboards. After a few minutes I heard my dad come up the stairs to the end of the hall to my room. I could smell his sweet aftershave that was a mix between peppermint and pine needles, everything that is memories of winter. He knocked lightly to my door and opened it to find me lying on my stomach next to the air vent. He sat down on my bed then covered with a pink and green colored butterfly quilt. Dad sighed and looked around my room filled with clothes that could only been known as fashionable by 8-year-olds and the grandmothers who bought them.

"Hey," he said giving a small sad smile.

I returned the same expression and sat up. "Do Aunt Isabel and Uncle Cole hate me?"

He paused giving this some thought to pick out the right words. "No they don't hate you they just don't understand what it means to love somebody more then themselves despite their faults."

"Do you love me like that?" I asked because I was eight and didn't yet understand how the worlds of Cole St. Clair and Isabel Culpeper worked.

"Of course Bug," Dad said standing up off the bed and crouched on the ground next to me. " I love the way your hair curls at the end of your hair, I love the way that your eyebrows go up when your confused, I love the way that you know just the right places to step on the stairs as to not disturb us when were asleep, and I even love the way that you bite your nails when your nervous." He started to tickle me and I broke out in laughter.

We sat like that for an hour, me half sitting half lying on the floor, and him arms wrapped around me tickling my armpits and neck. For the first time I understood what the true meaning of love was and what it meant for me and everybody else.

Now, with my heightened wolf senses I felt tense and alarmed but I was ready to fight if it meant I could protect my family.


	3. Chapter 3: They Know

"Tea?" the man offered pushing the screaming kettle off of the burner. I shook my head because Dad liked tea and I couldn't take the chance of remembering him right now. I needed to hold my ground and pretend like my parents were out of town instead of running around in a wolf's body.

The man came around the counter in the kitchen and walked through another door to the T.V. room. I followed him and saw Evan sitting on a red and green plaid couch with his feet resting on a matching ottoman in front of him. He was watching some show about a bunch of 20-somethings living in a house together. They were in the middle of a fight involving fists and broken dishes. When Evan noticed our arrival he muted the T.V. and turned around. He patted the seat next to him and the man pushed me towards it. He then walked over to a green chair on the other side of the room opposite of us. The couch was bouncy and cushiony. It felt comforting and for a moment I imagined myself spending many afternoons after school on this couch.

"Clare this is my dad, Robert. Dad this is Clare. Say hi," Evan said motioning his hand towards his father. His father gave me a brief nod and lifted his hand in a half wave.

"I know who Clare is. Her grandfather and I used to be close friends until he moved away. Did he ever talk about me?"

I raised my eyebrow in confusion not fully understanding what he was saying. My grandpa had always lived in Mercy Falls and had never moved since college. We also didn't have a good relationship so if he really were Grandpa's friend he would know that he wasn't close to us. "Excuse me sir, do you mean my grandpa Lewis Brisbane?"

Robert gave a loud laugh that seemed to fill the room. It was low pitched like his voice and was the type of laugh that made you burst out in laughter just because of the sound. Once he recovered he shook his head still smiling and said, "No silly girl. I mean your other grandfather, Gregory Beck."

I didn't know how to respond so I just sat there. My parents had told me plenty of stories about him, saying that he had raised Dad after his parents tried to kill him and was the one who bit him in the first place. But I also knew that Beck had died before I was born while they were attempting to move the wolves. "If you don't mind me asking how did you know Beck?" I asked skeptically.

"Well, I knew Beck back when he lived in Wyoming. We were in the same wolf pack." He added with a small smile obviously remembering a memory of the two.

I had to continue acting like I was just a regular girl that didn't have wolf venom running through my veins so I said, "Robert, I don't know what you're talking about. What pack? What wolves? Is there something going on?"  
>Robert and Evan both shook their heads in dismay. "Listen, Clare, we both know that your parents aren't gone on a business trip, on some random vacation, or whatever other lie you were going to tell us about your parents. I knew Beck, knew what he was, and know that he died as a wolf. I also know that your parents are currently both wolves and you should be a wolf but your not. Now the question is why aren't you one?"<p>

Sensing that I still wasn't going to give them any answers, Evan stopped his father before he could say anything else. He turned to face me so he could look into my eyes and said, "Clare, get up and look at all of our pictures."

I stood, still aware that his eyes were locked on me. I went over to the built in cabinet that held a few pictures. There was one in a red picture frame that held a photo of Evan, Robert, and a few other people. One of the people was a little girl no younger than twelve. She had the same brown eyes and hair as Evan and his dad but had a different nose and body. "Is this your sister?" I asked motioning towards that particular photo.

After a couple seconds of silence and no answer I continued to look more closely at the photos. But I still didn't get the meaning of this. Cole would have said that it wasn't the main part of the specimen that I should be looking at but more at the background and details. So moving to the next picture, I started looking for the smaller things. I saw that they were all wearing shorts and tank tops. The setting was sunny, bright, and on a beach. The same thing was in all of the photos. Even the one of Evan as a little kid looking adorable in orange swimming trunks and Barney floaters smiling the cheesiest grin I had ever seen. Walking back to the couch I said, "All of the pictures were taken in the summer."

Evan nodded his head giving a faint smile. "Yes. So you should calculate that we don't get around much in the winter or aren't even there. This being said you could safely assume that we, my family and I, are gone. In another form. A wolf's body. Clare, we were all bitten. And turn into a wolf but only keep our eyes."

I didn't know what to say, so I sat in silence. Finally I said, "Okay."

Evan gives me a sweet smile getting that by me saying that one small word was saying that I was a wolf, my parents were gone, and I understood what they were saying and trusted their words. "You better get going."

I stand up and cross the room to the door. Evan and Robert both have their eyes on me but for different reasons. Robert was in questioning and curiously. Evan was with happiness and something else. Longing?

On my way out I pick up my backpack that I had dumped at the door and put on my shoes. I open the front door and walk down the driveway, through the forest, and to the highway that will lead me home.

I knock on the front door to my house. I forgot my key at school. Again. I would grab the spare that we keep outside for the wolves that change when no one is home but I'd forget to put it back. After a long time of waiting Cole finally opens the door.

"I've been out here for ten minutes." I say flatly shivering slightly. I can feel my stomach churning but I am nowhere near ready to shift.

Cole rolls his eyes in an overly dramatic way. He backs away from the door and makes a swooping gesture inside the room. I push him aside and step into the room.

The living room is small with a huge stone fireplace perfectly centered on the right wall. We put a T.V. on the mantle even though Mom refused to bring a cable guy out to the woods every month. But then one of the wolves got a summer job at a cable place and taught all of us the basics of electronics and heating. There is a big, brown couch in front of the fireplace that can sit up to five people comfortably. There are also two tan chairs on either side with red decorated pillows on them. If Isabel was going to live in Minnesota she said that she wanted the comforts of California. Or at least the sense of style. To the left is a grand kitchen. It used to serve as the only kitchen when this place was a lodge but sense then we knocked out the wall that separated the old lobby from the cooking area. We also updated it when I was seven to make it more modern and "gaze worthy" as Isabel would say. Then straight ahead is a grand staircase that leads to the upper level and rooms.

"Do you want dinner?" Cole asks already turning his attention away from me. He starts to walk towards the stove, which has something that is in between pizza and charcoal on it.

I shake my head and head to the fridge hoping to find something in there. There isn't much, which shows that we need to go shopping. Or _I _need to go shopping. I found some butter, got some bread, and made toast because even though I was inside and the fire in the fire place was starting to warm me my stomach was still churning with memories of racing through the wood.


	4. Chapter 4 I Think I Like Him

I was born in December. December 20th to be exact. It was a year since Mom had been given the cure and everybody was still nervous that she would change back into a wolf because it was still a mystery of whether the cure worked on everybody or just Dad. So, out I came and after three days of being in the hospital Mom was ready to come home. When they were a mile away from our house I started throwing up. I was shaking uncontrollably and Mom and Dad were in a state of shock and didn't know how to react. So Cole, who was also in the car at the time, pulled out a dose of the meningitis and stuck the needle into my tiny vein. Minutes later, as we were pulling up to the cabin, I turned into a wolf. I was only four days old and as a pup was too small to be able to wander in the woods by myself. So, Dad and Cole set up a caged area about 30 feet long and 20 feet wide in the center of the forest. I faintly remember a tree that was barely five years old being in the center of the playpen. I desperately wanted to play with the tree but because I had meningitis bacteria running through my body I could barely move.

I was only a wolf for a week. After that I changed back into a baby and have never changed since. But, Cole has proved that the meningitis only works for five years at a time and stops working after two injections of it. I've already had my two and I've lasted through the winter the longest out of anybody. So, when I hopped into the warm shower and my stomach was still fighting back the need to puke, I wasn't surprised. I had had suspicions that I was going to change this year. The way that whenever I walked outside I felt sick and that I needed three layers to feel comfortable was only an indicator to my worst fear. It wasn't that I didn't want to be a wolf, believe me I did. It was the fact that I didn't know who would be waiting for me on the other side. I knew that my parents would be out there and even Cole if the cold finally took over him, but would they remember me as a wolf? Would they care that I was their daughter and needed help to survive in the woods? Would they even accept me?

Those were what kept me hidden in my jackets everyday. I could easily keep my window open all the time or go outside in shorts and a tank top but truth was I wasn't ready to give up the life that I was living as a human. I wasn't ready to say goodbye to Poppie or Isabel or my former life. But that night when I went to bed I couldn't help but dream of the golden forest that Mom always told me about.

I woke up feeling inexplicably nervous. I ran to my closet and got out my skinniest skinny jeans -which, I had been told, made my legs look good from Poppie- a grey v-cut long sleeve shirt with white birds flying across the middle and my pink flats. I thought, _I wonder if Evan will think I'm hot_. Shaking my head at myself in disapproval I run to the bathroom and put on, eyeliner, eye shadow, foundation, and blush, along with my usual mascara and lip-gloss. All of which, I rarely applied. Then I take the stairs two at a time, toast a waffle, and once I eat that brush my teeth with so much toothpaste that my breath will always smell like winter mint.

As I leave I almost collide with both Cole and Isabel who are coming through the door. Cole's hand is around Isabel's waist that is still surprisingly small considering that she's six months pregnant.

"Where's the fire, Michael Johnson?" Cole asks as I try to slide past him. He puts his hand on the doorframe so that I can't get through.

"I'm- You see- I've just got to go," I say pointing my finger towards the general direction of the bus.

Isabel rolls her eyes and walks through the door pushing me aside gently and sitting down on the couch turning the television on. Cole watches her as she walks with a type of longing that I've only seen in Chloe Daniels and Nick Reeds, the couple at my school who have been dating since 6th grade, and my parents eyes before. It shows how much you really care about a person and need them in your life. I can't help but imagine Evan staring at me that way. When I really go over what I've just thought I say in a whisper, "What am I thinking?"

"What did you say?" Cole asks with his attention still turned towards Isabel.

I tap his arm once and he lowers it without a fight. I walk past him, shove him inside the room, and close the door behind me. From there I run, not wanting to know what Cole is planning to do to Isabel once I leave.

I get to the bus out of breath and sweating even though its probably 40 degrees outside. Poppie is of course waiting there putting on a light red lip-gloss. She's wearing black leggings with yellow, pink, and orange paint splatters spread across them. She has a yellow shirt with a white fox face on the front. Even though the two yellows are different shades of the color they somehow compliment each other in a way only Poppie could think of. Her hair is pulled back in a half up half down way and the ends are curled. She must really want somebody to notice her today.

Just as I approach her, the bus pulls up. She spots me in the crowd that has now gathered towards the door and pulls me to where she is standing even though I was at the front of the line. Jason Grossman gives us a weird look. He is the most popular guy in school and has been described as hot by almost everybody. Neither Poppie nor I can tell where his good looks come from besides for the fact that money might make him slightly more attractive.

Poppie and I get onto the bus and go to our seat. Evan is sitting in the seat ahead of us clearly learning his lesson from yesterday. I stare at him the whole bus ride occasionally nodding or shaking my head at the talking Poppie when the time is appropriate. He doesn't look at me once.

Once we get to school Evan rushes off the bus. Even though its still only November it's colder than it has been in weeks. I sigh and turn to Poppie. Her hands are on her hips and she is giving me a disapproving look.

"What is up with you?"

"What do you mean?" I ask turning back around walking towards the school. I don't like where this conversation is going.

"You like that kid, don't you? What's his name, Kevin?" She asks chasing me.

"Evan," I say. With that note I speed walk the rest of the way to my locker.

I start putting my binders back into my locker when Poppie comes up to me.

"What's your issue? I'm your best friend you can tell me anything. See I'll tell you something. I like Weston," Poppie says clearly annoyed with my lack of feelings. I always thought that it was weird that I didn't like to talk about my love life especially since Mom and Dad were always so open with their emotions. I guess I am just afraid that when I do fall in love I wont have the same type of relationship as my parents. I won't have the silent conversations using just our eyes. I won't be able to feel the amount of love that the other feels for me. Tears begin to well up in my eyes as I start to remember my parents so I put all of these memories in a cardboard box just like how Dad taught me to.

"You already told me about Weston and yeah I do like him."

Poppie smiles ear to ear and starts jumping around squealing. She starts talking really fast like she does when she gets excited and all that I can make out is: "Omigodomigodomigodomigod!"

"Shut up before somebody hears you," I say slamming my locker door. We walk silently to her locker although Poppie keeps giving me sideway glances and giggling. The bell for homeroom goes off and we head our separate ways.

Next period is gym. This means that this is also where I will see Evan. As I walk into the locker room I gulp already nervous about what our next conversation will be like. I get changed into my P.E. clothes and am deliberately the last one to leave the room. As I leave I see Mrs. Sugachi blow her whistle while staring at me.

"Ms. Roth get you butt out of the locker room right now!" she screeches giving another blow into her whistle. I run out of the room and head straight towards Mrs. S. She is a stout, old, fat, lady who was currently going through menopause and probably shouldn't be teaching anymore let alone be teaching P.E. She has hatred toward me considering that she had Mom and Mom was never very athletic. She also had Isabel who was her least favorite student considering that Mr. Culpeper had been the one in charge of her case when Mrs. S. went through a divorce. She lost the case.

"I'm sorry," I say deciding to take the begging route when it comes to trying to avoid trouble. "I haven't been feeling very well recently so it's taking me longer to do even the most basic of activities." This wasn't a lie but it wasn't the whole truth. In the background I hear Evan chuckle at my desperate begging to not get in trouble.

"Whatever you say," Mrs. Sugachi puffs, handing me a yellow sheet with a list of all the muscles on it. " Kids, learn all of these terms by tomorrow and know their locations within the body. Today we will be playing dodge ball." Numerous moans and shouts of joy go across the gym but Mrs. S. doesn't seem to notice. She heads toward the supply room and brings out a basket full of soft balls in numerous shades. Her only rule is that as long as we clean up, she wont get involved in how we do whatever we are doing.

Before I know what's happening balls are flying through the air faster than the speed of light. A green ball hits my thigh so I'm forced to go to the sidelines. A few of the other kids are their including some of the more popular girls who don't want to mess up their perfect manicures. Some of them I immediately recognize of being cheerleaders that are on Poppie's team. They smirk when they see me walk up but immediately turn back to their gossiping friends.

After 10 minutes of playing a large group of people are out and there are only seven people left on each side. A yellow ball flies through the air and hits Evan on his arm. It bounces off and he catches it meaning that who ever threw it is also out. Evan jogs over to the group and heads towards the popular crowd. I glare at the back of his head and inch closer so that I can hear their conversation.

"Hey Evan!" Kelsey Burnett screams when she spots Evan next to her. Kelsey has blonde hair, blue eyes, the cutest clothes, and is head cheerleader. She has already made out with twelve different guys despite only being fifteen.

"Hey Kelsey," Evan says nonchalantly. Kelsey loops her arm with his acting like they've been best friends for years. This only makes me madder.

The group talks about recent parties and events that they've been to recently. They occasionally all laugh and frown when appropriate.

"There's a party at my house tonight if you want to come, Evan," Kelsey says batting her eyebrows. Evan laughs and says that he wouldn't miss it. I can't take it anymore. I stomp off away from the crowd and head towards the back of the bleachers. Before entering high school Isabel had told me about a little cranny between the bleachers and the wall. The wall goes away from the bleachers leaving a small place. Only two people can fit through this comfortably so it was dubbed the place that young couples can make out during gym if they want to miss it. After a few seconds I hear somebody behind me. I turn around and almost run straight into Evan.

"What do you think you are doing?" I yell at him since I'm still ticked off at him for flirting with another girl.

"Wait you're telling me that this isn't the passage to Narnia?" Evan says trying to lighten the mood.

"Don't try to be funny," I cross my arms and try to stand as far away from him as possible. Even though my heart is beating fast due to the small amount of space between us I try to ignore that and concentrate on the fact that I'm mad.

"Whoa there!" Evan holds up his hands in defense. "I was just making sure that you were okay."

"And don't pretend like you suddenly care about me either." Tears are starting to well up in my eyes for some inexplicable reason. I stare at the wall willing them to go away.

"What do you mean?" Then after a few seconds, "Are you jealous that I was talking to Kelsey?"

"Don't be stupid. I'm not the jealous type."

Evan sighs and sits down on the ground. I do the same and stare into his green eyes suddenly losing track of everything except his presence. "Actually right before you stormed off I was about to ask you if you wanted to go to Kelsey's party with me."

I begin to smile but then stop myself. "Are you only asking me now because you feel sorry for me? Because don't. Don't feel sorry for me I mean."  
>"No. I am one hundred percent completely serious." He sticks out his pinky to show that he is telling the truth. I wrap my pinky around his and for those two seconds feel my stomach begin to churn. But this time it's not because I have a wolf living inside me trying to crawl its way out.<p>

"Then yes."

"I'll pick you up at eight thirty." He stands up and slowly walks out behind the bleachers.


	5. Chapter 5: Party Time

I have only been to one high school party. Ever. Poppie was invited to a lot since she was a cheerleader and was known amongst the more athletic people. She had dragged me along since our best friend and her crush, which was also on the cheerleading squad, had, came down with the flu. It was a wild and crazy party and everyone came home drunk. I hated it.

When I came home from school, Cole and Isabel were going at each other. They were fighting about some stupid thing that I didn't really feel like getting involved with. Whenever my parents would get in fights, which were not a lot, I would sleep with one of them. I felt that it was my duty to keep at least one parent sane while the other one was on the living room sleeper sofa or another wolf's bedroom. The last fight that they had gotten into had been a surprisingly warm October last year. Neither Dad nor Mom had shifted but two of the unlucky members of the pack had earlier that day so everything was tense. When nighttime came I remember sitting in my parents' room at Mom's vanity. She had laid out all of her makeup -mostly neutral colors- and was letting me practice applying it.

"You never think about anyone else but yourself, Samuel Kerr Roth!"

"I never think about anyone but myself? Who was walking down Main Street yesterday and saw a blue blouse and thought to myself, 'Grace would love this'," Mom looked down at the blue blouse that she was currently wearing and crossed her arms over her chest. "Who bought specialty olives at the store yesterday for your restaurant? Who buys Clare her expensive shampoo because she's allergic to the cheaper ones? Who helped build Cole and Isabel's house? Who went out of my way to make sure that-"

"I get the point," Mom said as calmly as possible considering that her ears were bright red, something that happened when she was infuriated. "But, who was the one to make an agreement with an interviewer to come out to our house and record what it was like to be Sam Roth?" Dad had recorded five albums since I was born in the local recording studio. He had become quiet popular across the world but Mom and him decided that he would keep his personal life as private as possible to insure safety to the pack. He had also written three books. One autobiography and two fictions.

"Don't worry, I gave them Beck's address and we'll record everything there. All that's going to happen is they take a quick tour around the house, which I will set up appropriately, and video tape me talking. That's all."

Mom sighed, ears still blazing. "I thought we agreed that your life was going to be private. We even made sure of this by giving you a different name to go by when in the public eye."

"Isn't it Benjamin Hester or something like that?" I usually try to talk in between their fights to get them to stop. Sometimes it works but others it fails.

Mom walked over to me and rested her head on top of mine. She kissed the top of my head and said, "Yeah baby. Why don't you go downstairs and do your homework or something."

"I already finished it."

Mom sighed and smoothed down my brown, wavy hair. I have Dad's hair but Mom's light brown eyes but I have flecks of gold in them as well. She stood back up and exited the room with Dad following her. I heard the front door open even though they both ran the risk of freezing and turning into a wolf. I sighed with relief when I hear them both come back in after twenty minutes. Dad climbed the stairs and walks into the bathroom. He changed into his pajamas, grey sweats and a Rolling Stones t-shirt and crawled into bed. I rushed to my room and changed into my pajamas as well. Then I ran downstairs to Mom who is putting sheets on the sofa and kiss her goodnight and tell her that I love her. I head back upstairs and climbed into bed next to Dad. I faced toward him and he pushed my hair behind my ear and kissed me on my forehead. "Love you, Bug," is all he said before turning the other way and turning off the light. By the next morning my parents were as good as new and appeared to have not been angry.

That was the last time I went into Dad and Mom's room to put on makeup. Now I head in there to grab some light pink eye shadow, blush, and perfume. I'm wearing a cream black-button down shirt, hot pink skinny jeans, pink chandelier earrings, and brown Oxfords. I glance at the clock and see that it is 8:15. I hop onto Mom and Dad's bed. It still smells like them. I stay there encumbered by their terrific smell until I hear the doorbell followed by Isabel calling, "Clare, the door!"

I run downstairs taking the steps two at a time, look in the mirror that hangs right next to the bookshelf in the living room, and open the front door. Evan stands there smiling wearing a grey shirt that says Aloha! on the front, jeans, and red vans. "Nice shirt," is all I manage to say.

"Thanks, I got it in Hawaii. You look beautiful," I start to blush as he peers into the house. I feel a hand on my shoulder and turn around to see Isabel staring over me at Evan. She is holding a bowl of ice cream with pickles on top.

"Very cliché," Evan says pointing at Isabel's ice cream and pickles. Isabel glares at him, sizes him up, then turns around.

"Have fun! Don't get yourself knocked up. We've all seen what that does to your butt, " she says heading back towards her spot on the couch and her horror movie.

We walk to the car in awkward silence. "You have a car?" I ask since nobody in our grade is able to drive at night yet.

"Yeah," he says opening the door for me. I smile and wait for him to get in himself. It is a red 2009 Honda Civic. It is cleaner than Mom's car, which is saying something since Mom is a neat freak and needs everything to be spotless since her restaurant cannot be. "Well technically it's Dad's but he said that I could use it for tonight."

"What about a license?" I ask, he pulls out a fake.

"When your parents turn into wolves you never know when you might need to run to the grocery store," He backs out of the woods and heads onto the highway.

We sit in silence for a few minutes before I say, "You said that you've been to Hawaii, but everybody knows that when you move to a hotter climate a slight cool breeze from the air conditioner can make you turn into a wolf."

"Not my pack," Evan says while turning on the turning light. He turns down a path that leads to a large neighborhood hidden in the woods. It has a gate so before we can go through, Evan has to call Kelsey and ask her what the code is. After pressing in the numbers he continues talking. "We've gone everywhere. Texas, California, Mexico, even Florida."

"How?" I say this more to myself then to Evan and he knows this so doesn't reply. We arrive at a huge colonial style house. We both stare up at it in awe. It's not that we don't live in big houses, but this place only contains three people. Mr. and Mrs. Burnett and Kelsey. Both Evan and I live with at least nine other people.

"I guess this is the place." Evan turns off the ignition and steps out of the car locking it once we are both out. There are twenty other cars here.

"Where are you from?" I ask Evan who has almost reached the doorbell.

He rings it then says, "Canada. We moved here about a month ago. I never went to school though because I was waiting to change. Most of the others have. The only people left are me, Dad, and Rachel, my sister."

I'm about to talk again when Kelsey opens the door. She squeals when she sees Evan and calls out, "Evan Wilson's here!" At that at least six other girls swarm around Kelsey saying numerous compliments. Evan steps aside to reveal me who has been hiding behind him trying to be unnoticed. Kelsey gasps.

"What is Clare doing here?" she says adding a note of disgust when she says my name.

At that moment Poppie walks up and asks, "What's all the commotion about?" Then she spots me and squeals.

"Clarie!"

I smile and rush up to her giving her a big hug. "I would have invited you but Weston…"

"I understand," I say turning around to Evan. Kelsey is standing next to Evan, her hand on his bicep.

"I hope you don't mind that I brought a date," he says to Kelsey blushing a little bit. I start to blush, too. He referred to me as his date!

Kelsey giggles a little and says that of course, she doesn't mind. She drags him inside and as he passes me he gives a weak smile and mouths sorry. He is taken into the crowd and I lose him after he is absorbed. Poppie takes my hand and drags me to the other side of the house toward the stairs. She leads me up the stairs and to a bedroom on the right. I begin to protest not knowing what is going to be behind those doors but as she pushes it open I see five other kids in the room. I notice Weston right away and Poppie goes to sit next to him.

"Welcome to the social outcasts, Clare!" Weston says sarcastically. Even though he is on the cheerleading squad he is often excluded from the more popular girls.

I laugh and sit on the ground along with Poppie and Weston. They are holding hands.

"I don't understand why you don't ask each other out already," I say hoping to spur an answer that I have been asking since 7th grade. Both Weston and Poppie know that they like each other, flirt all the time, and always are near each other.

He stares into her blue eyes for a moment while she stares into his grey ones. "I don't know. I guess it's just that it's never been the right moment." She smiles and he tucks her blue dyed hair behind her ear.

We sit like that for two hours. Them staring at each other reminding me of my own parents so much that I have to look away sometimes and regain my composure and me talking to them about life, love, and other impossibly beautiful things. We are engaged in a conversation about who was the hottest actor/actress when the door creaks open slowly. I turn around to see Evan staring right at me.

"There you are! I've been looking for you and somebody said that you were up here." He comes to sit on the ground beside me.

"Um, Evan, this is Poppie and Weston. They're my best friends." Evan looks at their intertwined fingers then looks at his own. He places it next to mine, close enough that we can feel the heat coming off of each other but far away enough so that we're not touching. We all make small talk for a minute and then go back into our original conversation.

"We better get going," Weston says standing up after talking for 30 minutes. Both Poppie and him live in this neighborhood and live within walking distance. I say goodbye and hug them. Then they leave and its just Evan and me.

We sit in awkward silence for a while when he mumbles, "Your eyes are cool."

"What?" I say just to make sure I heard him right.

"Your eyes. They're cool. They have a little bit of yellow in them. They look like wolves eyes."

"Yeah my dad's are completely yellow. They have been since he was born. I think that's part of the reason why Beck chose to bite him."

Evan laughs a bit. "Well, now that I've met your friends, come and meet mine." He stands up and opens the door. He turns around to make sure that I'm following him, but when he sees that I'm still on the ground frowns and comes over to me. He grabs my hands and tries yanking me up.

"I'm not going down there. They all inexplicably hate me. Didn't you notice the way Kelsey talked about me when we first came in?"

"That's just Kelsey being Kelsey. I've only been here 3 days but I already only know her that way. Don't take it personally. Besides you'll be with me. They have no choice but to like you," he says smiling.

I roll my eyes and when he tugs again I let him pull me up. He doesn't let go of my hand the whole way down the stairs and to the living room. More people have come since I went upstairs and the living room is stuffy and smells of sweat and beer. All of the people are holding red solo cups. Someone offers me a drink but I refuse they turn to Evan and he ignores them pulling me through the crowd. We somehow manage to make it to the middle and are surrounded. To my left is Kelsey grinding with some junior and her friends are surrounding her. We start to dance even though there isn't a lot of space. After 3 songs somebody switches out the iPod and a whole new variety of music starts playing.

A slow dance comes on. One by one everybody surrounding us is finding a partner to dance with. A few people go up to Evan but he says no to all of them. He turns to me and holds out his hand. I smile and give him mine in return. We dance like that for a while when Kelsey breaks away from whoever she is dancing with and confronts us.

"Excuse me but you aren't supposed to be here. You weren't even invited. Nobody likes you. You don't belong." Kelsey is clearly drunk and is just trying to pick an argument.

I roll my eyes and am about to yell at her when Evan grabs my shoulders and holds me back. He looks me in my eyes holding my stare. I try to look away but his green eyes take over me and refuse to let me go. "Don't do this Clare. Let's just get out of here."

He grabs my hand and leads me through the crowd. We head to the front door and are about to get in the car when four people come running out. They are all from my grade and are holding cups. They hop in the car after us and sit in the back seat. One of the girls sitting on her boyfriends lap.

"What are you doing here?" Evan asks spinning around. He seems annoyed even though he has a huge smile on his face.

"If you thought that we were going to let our friend leave alone then you're delusional," one says.

"Clare, I'd like you to meet my friends. I knew them before I started going to the school, you know since I had to be on the waiting list to get in for a month," he winks implying that that is what he told these people about why he hadn't gone to school for a month after moving here. "Anyway this is Nina, Justin, David, and Oliver."

They extend their hands all at once and I try to keep up with whose hand I've already shaken. We back out of the driveway and drop all of them off one by one. Even though they are all pretty popular they accept me for who I am.

Evan drops me off last. I open the car door ,but he stops in front of my house. "Do you want to come in?" I ask hoping that he'll stay longer. He looks at the clock and shivers. "Do you want some hot cocoa?"

He nods his head, turns off the car, and runs to the front door. I fumble with the keys and finally open the door. A draft of warm air comes bursting out warming us up. We step inside and I head toward the kitchen. Cole is sitting at the counter while Isabel is sitting next to him. They are playing tic-tac-toe on a piece of paper. Next to each of them is a large stack of mini-marshmallows. Who ever wins gets to steal one mini-marshmallow from the other persons stack and eat it. I used to play that game with Dad when we went to Mom's restaurant. While we were waiting for her to close up for the night and finish making the last persons food, Dad would dump a bag of small marshmallows on the counter and we would play various games such as tic-tac-toe, I spy, arm wrestling, and thumb wars. Mom would clean up and then watch us play, occasionally switching out places with the loser. When we finished, she would rest her head on Dad's shoulder and he would rest his head on top of hers. Then I would come running up to them and let them embrace me in a massive hug. We would stay like that for up to twenty minutes, just telling stories and jokes. We would leave only when we could barely keep our eyes open. Then Mom would lock up _The Golden Woods Tavern _and we would walk to the car slowly. I always ended up falling asleep on the ride home.

Now, Isabel grabs one of Cole's marshmallows and sticks it in her mouth. I move to the kettle and warm the water. Right before the kettle is about to screech I grab two mugs, dump the chocolate powder in them, and then pour the water in. Then I reach across the counter to Cole's stack of marshmallows, grab a handful, and plop them in each cup. Evan comes over and grabs his mug and drinks almost all of it in one gulp.

"You have a moustache," I say to Evan, giggling. He wipes the chocolate from his lips and I let my stare linger there a moment longer than necessary.

Cole clears his throat and says, "So, Evan, I heard that you moved here from Canada, is that right?"

"Yes, though I lived in Wyoming before that," he replies hesitantly, running his thumb along the tip of the mug, "how'd you know?"

"Your father stopped by earlier this morning. He's coming back later tonight since none of you are going to school tomorrow."

"What?" I ask suddenly curious about where this conversation is going.

Cole draws an x into a square and reaches over to grab a marshmallow. "Well first you went to a party tonight. What idiots through a party on a Thursday?"

"Kelsey Burnett," I mumble to myself hoping nobody will hear. Evan looks up at me and smiles, indicating that he's thinking the same thing I am.

"And I figured that since there is a new wolf pack in town that we better meet them. That's what the alpha would want." He's talking about Dad.

Just at that moment the doorbell rings. Isabel stands up and opens it. In walks Robert and who I assume to be Rachel. She ushers them to the couch that faces the warm fireplace. She nods her head in their general direction saying that Evan and I should sit near the others.

I grab my half full mug and sit on the love seat that is angled to perfectly catch the heat from the fire. I tuck my legs under me kicking off my shoes as I do. Evan sits down next to me. There is barely any room between us so that our legs our touching. My skin burns but it's not from the fire.

Isabel and her belly sit in a reclining chair in the furthest corner taking up most of the room. Cole stands at the window looking out occasionally.

"Clare," Robert nods.

"Hey Rach," Evan says breaking the uneasy silence that has fallen over all of us. "How was school?"

"Well today, Anna told me that I was stupid so I went right up to her and told her-"

"Shhhh, let us talk, Rachel." Robert says squeezing his daughter's shoulder softly. He reminds me of my own dad, the gentle voice he uses around her, the way that his smile brightens when she talks even though he is visibly stressed. I want my parent's back.

"So, um, Cole, I hear that you have discovered a bit of a cure for this, er, problem we all have?"

"Yeah. Your point is?" Cole asks staring out the window. I try seeing what he is looking at but all I see is the dark sky.

"Wait, a cure?" Evan asks. He straightens up and looks straight at Cole.

"Well, something like that. We have discovered that injecting meningitis into a wolf while they are in their human form, then sending them out to the winter as a wolf can stop the person from turning in the next winter. But, we have also found that the virus only lasts up to 5 years and can only be injected twice." Cole said, his gaze clearly following something.

"How did you find that out?" Rachel asks looking confused. I have to give her credit, for a seventh grader, she is smart. So, I retell the story that my parents had told me about how they went to Isabel's mom's office, lured Dad from his wolf form just long enough to inject him with someone's infected blood, then waited.

"Okay, wow," Evan says shaking his head once I finish the story. "I can't believe he can just turn back into a human with adrenaline."

I give him a weak smile and then ask, "How is your pack able to travel? My dad's pack tried that once but just discovered that the wolf was easily triggered more frequently."

"I don't know," Robert says shrugging. "It's always been that way. I remember when I was little and newly bit I was still able to go on vacation to Africa with my family."  
>At this news Cole turns his attention toward us. He furrows his brow and taps his chin, what he does when he's deep in thought. We all watch him until Isabel lifts herself out of her chair and said, "Mr. Wilson, why don't you go now?"<p>

He nods, looks at his watch, and heads toward the front door. His children follow and I stand up to let them out. "Goodnight," Robert, Rachel, and Evan say in unison. I can't help cracking a smile at the fact that that was probably rehearsed.

Evan reaches in to hug me and as I'm embraced in his hug I feel giddy. He smells like mint and pine. I hug him back and notice the way that his hand lingers on the small of my back too long for just a friendly hug.

I usher them out the door and watch as they enter their car and pull out of the dirt driveway and turn down the long path that leads away from the forest. Away from home.

I turn around and am about to shut the door when I catch a movement from the corner of my eye. At first I think it's just the rain, which has just started up, but curiosity gets the better of me and I turn around. Standing behind a tree are two wolves. I recognize them immediately due to their eyes. One's are a brown that reminds me of milk chocolate, days in a kitchen, curling up on the couch to read a logical book, and immense love. And yellow ones that are memories of poetry, golden woods, strums of the guitar and soft songs, and care.

I run outside even though I'm still wearing what I was before and it's muddy. The wolves begin to run away but I follow them, careful to not startle them further away.

I almost run into them before I notice that they have stopped. They are standing in the middle of a clearing, rain falling off their fur in small droplets. Thunder cracks above me and I duck down, startled. That's when my parents lay down. They are inches away from me on either side. I slowly drop down to the ground, surrounded by them. Between them it is warm and they slowly edge closer to me. I roll onto my back staring up at the sky. Rain falls into my eyes but at the moment I don't care. My hair is soaked and I'm freezing but I'm with my parents and that's all that matters.

I sit with them in silence for a long time, rain now pounding when I start to talk.

"Hey guys," I turn to the wolves. They are both staring straight at me, making me feel loved. "How are you? I'm pretty good. It's usually rough right around now but things are starting to lighten up. I met this guy, Evan, he's a werewolf, too. I really like him, tough. He's a nice kid. Apparently his dad, Robert, knew Beck back in Wyoming."

I can almost see Mom's brows burrowing, trying to figure out the most logical answer for all of this. And Dad staring angrily, hearing that I have a crush on a boy. I smile, glad, that even as wolves I know what they are thinking.

"Robert has gone places in the summer though and hasn't changed. I can tell that Cole thinks that that might be a clue to the cure. We were exchanging information before. They didn't even know about the meningitis cure." I sigh suddenly over come with sleepiness. I continue telling them about what's been happening since they've been gone. I tell them about school, Poppie and Weston, Isabel's baby, and other stuff like that. I start to fade out though, my eyelids dropping as the steady beat of the rain lull's me to sleep.


	6. Chapter 6: Golden Woods

I wake up with a jolt, feeling a wet sensation on my palm. I look around me, remembering that I had fallen asleep in the woods last night. Now a thin layer of snow covers everything and it is way below 35 degrees. I know my changing point, the temperature that I will change into a wolf at, and it is pretty close. With the number 23 degrees stuck in my mind I leap up making the wet sensation go away. I realize too late that it was something licking me. I watch Mom run off into the forest looking behind her once. Not soon after Dad comes out, too, bows at me, then runs away. I whisper a soft goodbye and start making my way back to the house.

The leaves beneath my feet crunch softly as I follow a deer trail. I love the sound that the soft crunch makes as I make my way through the dewy forest. Water covers almost everything, from the leaves to the bark to my hair.

When the house is in view I dash to the door praying that it is open. Luckily it is so I dash inside. I'm about to start putting on clothes for school when I remember that Isabel had told me that I could play hooky. I trade my blue jeans and soft white blouse for some long pajama pants and a sweatshirt.

I realize that Isabel and Cole aren't in the house so I head to the small cabin that was built specially for them. I rap on the door slightly putting my hands in my front pocket to warm them up.

Isabel's pregnant belly emerges first, followed by her pale green face. I can faintly catch the smell of puke as she breathes on my face. I lightly shove her aside so that I can get away from the stench and the cold.

"Hey Isabel. Hey Cole," I call out through the living room. It's a small house with just enough room for four people. Mom always liked this house more due to its cozy size but she hated the dark reds and oranges that they adored so much. Instead she preferred beiges, purples, and blues. I smile at the faint memory of her until I remember why I really came here.

As Cole emerges from the bedroom with a hint of aftershave I begin pounding him with my experience from last night. He offers me a cup of tea to stop me from shivering but mainly to get me to shut up for a few seconds.

"I'm sure Sam and Grace were happy to see you." Though Cole used to be a famous singer he sucks at words.

"Thanks for that one," I nudge him softly with my elbow. Everyone stares at the floor for a while until we hear a car pull up through the driveway.

I run outside and see Evan again. He looks worn out but still cute.

"Why don't you kids go walk around and let us adults talk?" Robert suggests. Rachel runs straight into my house to what I assume is one of the other pack members wardrobe section. Evan looks slightly embarrassed and suggests we walk around outside.

I blush remembering what I'm wearing and how I don't have any make-up on.

Once we are out of earshot, Evan turns to me and smiles saying, "Well, you look nice." His comment is completely sincere which makes my insides bubble.

I grab his hand and start walking to the car. Cole and Isabel occasionally let me drive. I had to learn in case everyone changed and Isabel was busy, but I needed something. I hop into the driver's seat of our pick up truck and don't even wait until Evan closes he door to drive away.

We sit in a comfortable silence until we reach our designation. A large house looms over us. It reminds me of Dad. It's where he was truly accepted. Where he learned who he was. Where he met the love of his life. It's Beck's house.

Evan takes my hand and laces his fingers through mine. I lead him through the forest taking my time and thinking of stories that Dad used to tell me about this place. Sometimes I'll tell them to him and he'll laugh or squeeze my hand lightly.

Finally we get to where I wanted. I look up and watch the golden leaves fall from the sky. They cover us like a warm blanket that is there to protect us. I look back at Evan. His face is illuminated by the morning light. His eyes light up as each leave falls slowly to Earth. To us.

He looks back at me and brings me into a tight hug. I pull back a bit and we stare into each other eyes. "Did I tell you that I really like you?"

"I think you forgot to mention that one," I giggle. "That's a relief to know because I really like you, too. Now I'm not alone in this journey."

"I'll never let you be alone." He inches his face closer to mine until our lips our touching. He tastes sweet like honey. Our lips move in sync as if we were meant to be.


	7. Chapter 7: He Proposed

**NOTE**: For the sake of time, though I know that the cabin is more than an hour away from Mercy Falls, just pretend that they are within the same general area. Thanks!

Just as we separate, I run into the bushes and puke. I curse silently and wipe my mouth. The last thing I wanted was for Evan to see me throw up. "I'm sorry," I mumble, looking down at the ground.

Evan squeezes my shoulder as he passes and says, "I'll go warm up the car." He runs ahead, out of view.

I'm left to walk through the golden forest with myself and my thoughts. As I recount what just happened, both the tragedy and kiss, my phone rings. I answer it skeptically, wondering who would be calling in the middle of a school day.

"Clare, it's me. This is urgent will you please come to the school?" Poppie's familiar voice booms from my little phone.

"First off, shouldn't you be in class and second, I look like crap Pop, I can't come."

"Please? I'll meet you out at the field. Besides it's sixth period." Poppie ditched her sixth period class on an almost daily basis. It was French and she already knew how to fluently speak both that and Spanish. Poppie's mom had cut a deal with her teacher that as long as she got higher than a B on every test she took then she could miss as much class as she wanted.

I sigh, debating my choices and finally agree to meet her there in fifteen minutes.

When I slide into the car it's nice and toasty. It warms me form my toes up, putting the wolf that's trying to claw its way out of me at ease. "Look, I'm really sorry Evan. I totally killed the mood." I look everywhere within his car except at him. The hula dancer sitting on his dashboard, the stain on the floor, or my legs, which are still shaking.

"Don't worry about it," he says trying to make me feel better. "A few more minutes and I would have done the same and I ate a big lunch. Let's just say that you up chucking was probably the least embarrassing for the both of us."

I crack an uneasy smile while he looks behind him to pull out of the long driveway. "Hey do you think you can drop me off at the school?" I ask hesitantly. He nods once before turning onto the road that leads there. It's a short drive from Beck's house to the school so we don't talk much.

We get there and he asks if I want him to stay. I say that he can be dismissed.

I climb out of the car, grabbing a stick of gum that I find in the console. I blow him an air kiss as he pulls out, hoping he doesn't notice it, but my gut says he did.

I head behind the school to the empty field that I had walked on with Evan only a short time ago. I find Poppie pacing across it, her arms flailing with crazy arm gestures.

She spots me walking towards her and runs. Though she is probably wearing 5-inch heels she still manages to get to me in one piece. "Finally you're here! Anyway, guess what, guess what, guess what?"

"What?" I hold her by her shoulders to make her stop jumping up and down.

"Weston proposed to me." She holds out her left hand for me to inspect the diamond ring that lay on her finger with a zebra patterned nail design (each finger holds a different animal print).

"Poppie, you're fifteen. I'm pretty sure it's illegal to get married." I let go of her hand, my eyebrow raised.

Poppie giggles wildly. "Not actually silly. He proposed to go out with me." She clutches her chest dramatically before breaking into a wide grin.

"That is incredibly cute and I am so happy for you but what does it mean?"

"It means that in like a week or so we'll have a little ceremony for us to date. You're invited. I'll hand out the invitations by next Tuesday."

"Finally you two get together." I'm smiling now right along with her.

"What about you and 'The Boy'? How's that working out?" I gulp at the nickname for Evan, which also happens to be the pet name Rachel created for my dad when they were younger.

"How'd you know about that name?"

"Your mom and I talk sometimes," Poppie says dismissing the importance in bringing up my dad when he is in wolf form. She wouldn't know how vulnerable I am when she mentions my parents though. "Now answer the question."

I give her a small smile before giving her the events of today. I leave out the part where Robert and Rachel come over to talk about the possible new cure but the rest is all true.

She offers me a ride home with her mom and when I do get home everybody is waiting for me.

"Yes?" I walk around them in our small little living room to grab a sandwich. I notice that everyone is there except Evan. I wonder where he is and feel my cheeks blush just thinking about him while his dad is in the same room.

"Clare, we might have found a possible cure," Cole says he walks over to me and starts to rub my back so I know that this is the eye before the storm. "But," he continues, "we need a subject to test on and we would like your permission first."

"I don't understand. I haven't ever turned." I don't mention that I feel like I might any day now and desperately wish sometimes that I could.

Cole looks me straight in the eye as if letting me know that the next part to the story I'm not going to enjoy, "The subject wouldn't be you, Clare. The test would be performed on Sam."


	8. Chapter 8: DadexperimentYes?

When I was six Mom got pregnant. By then I was old enough to know that only a mommy and a daddy could get pregnant but I didn't know the details.

I was really excited to have a little brother or sister, though I secretly wished for a sister. I could imagine us playing dolls or dress up and growing old together. We would go to prom and be maid of honor in each other's weddings. We'd gossip about cute boys and steal each other's clothes.

What I didn't realize is that Mom got pregnant in September. This meant that by the time she was four months it was already below zero outside.

One day she was making me lunch, a turkey sandwich on wheat, when she doubled over in pain. I didn't know what to do because Isabel was living in California and Dad was already a wolf.

So I just stayed by her and rubbed her back. At first, I thought she was going to change because she rocked back and forth and clutched her stomach, but then I saw the blood.

Cole later thought that Mom had gotten too cold internally even though she probably had never dropped below 95 degrees Fahrenheit. But since the baby wasn't able to deal with that temperature yet it turned into a wolf. And a human body can't carry a wolf fetus.

Mom was devastated and quite frankly, so was I. Three days later she took her first step outside since winter hit. She needed some one besides a six year old to comfort her. So when she transformed into a wolf she ran away, only looking back at me once.

I called Isabel like I was trained to do and she took the first flight out.

I guess what I'm trying to say is we all have lost a lot in this little family and I am going to do everything to keep us all alive.

"No," That's the answer I gave Robert. "No way am I going to let you use Dad as an experiment for your little possible cure."

Cole is glaring at me angrily. "Clare, you and I both know that this is what your father would have wanted. He's the alpha of the pack. It's his job to take care of all of us. If that means risking his life he'd be all for it."

I mumble a few unmentionable words under my breath. I know Cole is right. Dad would want himself to be the experiment. I sigh saying, "How do we even get him to turn human. He's been a wolf for almost a month and a half now. I don't think us telling him 'Oh hey, Sam, we might have found a real cure this time. Wanna be the test subject? Oh yeah sorry if you end up dead,' will get his adrenaline pumping enough for him to change."

"Let us worry about that." Evan says. He hadn't said a word since we all started talking so I jumped when he spoke.

"Excuse me?"

"I talked to my dad about this last night. I came up with the idea for this cure. So I'm going to help them with it. Are you okay with that?"

Instead of answering I stand up and go up to my room. I shut the door and lay across my bed absorbing the light coming in through the window. I'd given up. In boy language that meant yes, I'd let them do the experiment of Dad.


	9. Chapter 9: Times Like This

I wake up early, blinking a few times to get adjusted to the light. It must have been around 6:30 am and the sun was just peeking over the trees to wish me a good morning. I crawled out of bed even though it was Saturday and my usual wake up time was somewhere between nine and ten. But the events of last night came flooding back to me and I didn't feel like lying in bed with my thoughts.

The first thing I do when I get downstairs is grab a notepad. Like Mom I always feel it easier to write down my thoughts when I have a lot on my mind. Mom always used to tell me to put my thoughts to good work and become the next S.E. Hinton but I always felt that even if I did attempt to jumble all of my thoughts into a story it would never turn into a real piece of art, and besides who wants to read a fifteen year old girl's thought on life.

After writing, I decide that it's time to talk to Cole. It's not fair that everyone else is in on the plan of this cure but me. I glance at the clock noting that it's 7:16 and Cole is undoubtedly still passed out in his bed but I go anyway.

"Cole," I pound on the wooden door, "I need to talk to you. Now." After a few minutes with no answer I start yelling again. "You can't hide a pillow over your face forever."

A moment goes by and Cole swings the door open. "Clare, I am so not in the mood. I have a pregnant woman in there who would very much like to chop my head off and waking her up at the crack of dawn isn't exactly helping."

I ignore every word that he says. "Why don't I know about the plan? Everybody else is made well aware of what is going to be happening to _my _dad's life except me."

"Can't this wait until, I don't know noon?"

"Do I look like I came here to come chit chat at noon?"

Cole sighs and mumbles, "You sound just like Grace," before shutting the door and coming to my house.

I go to the couch and sit down gesturing for Cole to do the same. Within the past couple of day's it seems that a lot of serious conversations have taken place on this couch.

"How positive are you that this cure is not harmful?" I ask, not sure if I want to hear the real answer.

"At least 67%," Cole says as he runs a hand through his hair. It sticks up in twenty different places and I can't help but crack a smile at his goofy appearance.

"When is this taking place?"

"Jeez, Clare. Do you want an invitation listing the time, date, and location? Oh yeah don't forget to bring a present."

"Just answer."  
>"Soon. Within the next couple of weeks so I can make some final adjustments to the cure such as-"<p>

"How does this cure work?"

"That is too big of a question for 7:30 am, love." Cole says. I roll my eyes and say fine and move on to the next and final question.

"How are you going to get my dad?"  
>Cole looks down at the ground, something he does when he wants to avoid the question. "That's where you come in."<p>

"What?" I agreed to letting Dad be the guinea pig but not for me to be a part of it.

"That's where you-"  
>"No, no I get that part, but what do you mean?"<p>

Cole looks down at the ground again. "We'll use you to coax him back into his human form so that we can inject the cure. Since your mom is a wolf we can't get her to talk to him so you're the only other one that can do it."  
>I had heard the story of Mom talking to Dad and getting him to change into a human so that she could inject the meningitis. It had become a nightly one for many years. Yet, I had no clue if Dad would do the same for me. Yes, I knew that he loved me as much as Mom but the circumstances had been different.<p>

"Okay. I think I need some time to think," is all I say to Cole. It was a lot of information to process.

Cole stands up and ruffles my hair. It was his way of letting me know that this had to happen and no matter what he was there for me.

I grab my phone and call my best friend. "I need some retail therapy. Stat."

Not twenty minutes later is Poppie pulling up to my house. She jumps out of the car to hug me and attempts to go inside.

"Is your mom home?" She asks opening my door.

I shut it. "No she's in-um- Michigan getting some food ideas for her restaurant. Won't be back for another two weeks."

"How about your dad?" she tries to get around me.

"Um- he's also gone. He went to California to talk about his album and books some more."  
>Poppie shrugs and goes back to the car. I climb in after her and as we drive to downtown Poppie yells at her mom to turn the music up.<p>

"I know this is going to sound totally strange considering this song is as old as we are and is under normal circumstance so not my music but this band has become my newest obsession. I heard one of their songs on the radio last week and it's my new jam," Poppie informs me.

I scrunch my eyebrows together and listen to the song. "It sounds eerily familiar. Who's it by?"  
>"NARKOTIKA."<br>I laugh, a long, deep one, something I haven't done in a while. "It's pronounced NARKOTIKA like narcotics, not nar-koh-tee-kah."

Poppie laughs at her own mistake. "Well anyhow I looked up the lead singer and may I just say that he is sexy? Even if he is like 40 years old."  
>I laugh at the mental image of Poppie trying to hit it off with Cole St. Clair now. "He's actually only thirty four."<br>Poppie is about to say something but then her mom tells us to get out of the car because we're here.

Twelve shops and a total of seven bags of junk later, we had gone into almost every store. Except one. "Hey Poppie do you mind if we go to the Crooked Shelf?"

Poppie crinkles her nose. She wasn't much of a book reader. "What's in there?"

"Oh, nothing I just need a book."

A bell jingles as we walk in. I look around and inhale, the smell of new books and tea filling my nostrils. I remember Dad telling me stories of his little adventures in this bookstore. Of the time that he saw Mom for the first time and having deep conversations with the owner, Karyn among many more.

I notice behind the front desk is a little shelf filled with various things but the thing that sticks out the most is a small paper crane on the middle shelf. It's more than a decade and a half old and is made out of an old napkin, a rim of tea staining the corner. I smile to myself. "Okay, we can go."

I'm now sure. I'll do whatever it takes to help Dad.


	10. Chapter 10: Almost

My parents' and my relationship wasn't all hugs and kisses. I think they tried hard for it to be since neither of them had the best parents growing up, but every once and a while we would fight.

Last summer was once of those times. All of the wolves were in the house and it was crowded. So to get away from it all Mom and Dad decided that it would be a good time for a road trip. I was sitting in the backseat of our truck listening to music on our way back home from Colorado. I was staring out the window watching the world go by and wishing it would take me with it. Dad tapped on my knee. I pulled out my earphones. "Your mother is trying to talk to you."  
>I waited for her to start talking. "Hey, Clare-Bear, when we get home I think that I'll have you start working in the restaurant. That way I could teach you to cook a little bit and I could stop making you dinners." She looked through the rearview mirror to wink at me.<p>

"I'm not you." I mumbled under my breath. She asked me to speak up so I did. "I'm not you Mom and I never will be. I don't get numbers and nonfiction and all of the stuff you like. Same goes for you Dad I can't sing, you've heard me, so stop pushing those stupid singing lessons." I don't know why I said all that. Maybe it was the heat of the moment or the fact that I had been stuck in a car for ten hours but I snapped.

"Don't you dare talk to your mother like that young lady," My father said. His eyes changed from their constant sad to mad in one second flat.

"You know I'm right. All you do is make me into the person that you want me to be. Just because you two had crappy ass parents, that had nothing to do with your lives, doesn't mean that you guys have to be watching over every step in mine. Just leave me alone."

Dad's eyes turned somber and Mom wiped a tear from her face. She never cried. Ever. "We do. Every winter."

The rest of the car ride was silent. Me feeling horrible about what I had just said and them, I'm sure, thinking of about three hundred ways they could punish me.

Once we got home I stayed in the car while they got out and went inside. I stayed in there for what felt like years when finally they both came back out. Mom opened the door. "You're so stubborn." I crossed my arms over my chest trying not to show her that I already felt defeated.

"You know we're not mad at you, Bug," Dad said using my old childhood nickname.

"You're not?" My hazel eyes flecked with gold widened in disbelief. I had been so cruel, how could they forgive me?

"You're everything we've got," Dad started because he was better with words. "Yes, we're disappointed in you but we're not mad."

"I'm still sorry." I looked down at my hands curled in my lap. "I was rude and out of line and wrong." I stared up at Mom and Dad. They both look so calm and happy and everything that meant home. "You guys are the best parents ever and-" I had to stop to wipe a tear from my eye.

Mom stroked my hair and kissed the trail that the tear had made down my face. Dad smiled softly holding my hands in his. Together we walk inside and I feel oddly at peace. I am home.

"Clare. Clare. Earth to Clare." Poppie coaxes waving a hand in front of my face.

I come back to the moment and notice the waitress staring at me waiting to take my order. "Uh- I'll just take some green tea. Thanks." I close the menu and give it to her as she walks away.

"You were doing that whole," Wes stares at a point just past my head and opens his mouth just slightly, "thing again."

I mumble sorry and take a sip of water. It's icy cold and I feel it all the way down my stomach.

"Clare your birthday is next week and I'm going to make it the best sixteenth birthday you've ever had." Poppie says smiling.

"Well it better be seeing that it is my only sixteenth birthday," I point out to her.

"Okay so this is what I was thinking…" Poppie starts to talk but I don't listen. Instead I watch Wes and Poppie interact. I watch the way her fingers deftly move across his forearm. I watch the way he nuzzles his nose into Poppie's neck making her giggle lightly but continue on with her conversation. Their actions remind me so much of everything I'd grown up around and wanted that I had to look away.

Poppie continues talking and talks right up until the bill comes. I hug her before leaving and tell her that I'll see them both later. As I walk outside the cold hits me with a slap. I slide up against the wall using it to keep my balance. My stomach churns and for one horrible moment I think that the green tea will make a surprise visit. But just as I think that I'll lose myself for good, Isabel pulls up in her SUV. I run to the door and hop in blowing on my hands to warm them up. I notice Isabel's nostrils flare probably smelling the fact that I distinctly smell like wolf. "You forgot your jacket in the car." She gestures to the coat on the back seat. She drives away and neither of us mention my almost shift again.


	11. Chapter 11: You Did What?

I hop from foot to foot in the parking lot waiting for Evan. Where is he? It has been almost twenty minutes since he said he would pick me up from school. I continually check my phone for any sign of him.

That's when it struck me that he could have very easily shifted. We had talked about the fact that either of us could shift at any given moment but it had never truly set in. A small tear escapes my eye as he pulls up. I wipe it away quickly and get inside.

"Clare I am so sorry. Hey, are you okay?" he asks as I buckle my seat belt.

He places his hand on my knee but I continue looking straight ahead. "I thought you shifted." My voice shakes as I speak.

Evan removes his hand and puts it on the steering wheel pulling out of the lot. "I had to do a favor for a friend."

I look at him quizzically behind my hair. "So what you just forgot about me, your girlfriend?"

"Of course I didn't! I just had to help someone with something."  
>"And you just got carried away?"<p>

"Yes. Look Kelsey just needed some help with-"

I cut him off not wanting to hear anything else. "Whoa whoa whoa you were with Kelsey?"

"Clare, it wasn't like that." He looks over at me and tried to grab my hand but I moved it away.

"So then what was it like?" I stare at him trying to shoot both metaphorical and literal daggers with my eyes.

Evan sighs before speaking. "Look she just needed some help moving some stuff from her car into the school. Like some stuff for Winter Formal or something. It was no big deal." Evan runs his hand through his hair and in that moment I instantly forgive him. But then he continues. "She kissed me first." At first I don't think I hear him right and I am about to ask him what he said when the full weight of what happened hits me.

"You kissed her!" I shout. My insides feel like they are trying to crawl their way out and I feel like I'm going to be sick.

"I turned my head I swear. She caught my cheek instead. Believe me, Clare, please."

For a moment the both of us are in complete silence. I unclick the seat belt and grab the door handle. "Let me out."

"What?" he looks over at me as if I'm the crazy one, as if I'm the traitor.

"Evan, stop the car." Saying his name hurts.

"Don't do this, Clare." Evan pleads but he pulls the car over anyway. I throw myself out of the car finally being able to breath now that I am away from him. "Please, Clare, just stay. I can explain."

I look back at him and for a mere second I think about climbing back into his arms. I think about kissing him until the thought of him and Kelsey becomes a joke and I think about creating my own little world of two with him. But only for a second. I slam the car door shut. And begin running as fast as I can away from him. I run into the woods toward the setting sun.

For once I don't care that it's probably below 30 degrees outside. For once I don't care that these woods are very unfamiliar and that I know that I am lost and alone in the dark. Instead I keep on running until finally everything starts to begin looking more like home. I slow down to a jog and feel the cold tearing at my skin. And for once I don't care that I will become a wolf.


	12. Chapter 12: Time

I stare at the ceiling. I faintly recall Isabel not so pleasantly telling me to get out and seize the day. But I couldn't. I couldn't think. I couldn't do anything. All I felt was pain. I was aware of the days passing ever so slowly always falling into the same routine. Wake up. Go to school. Avoid my friends' worried questions. Go home. Try not to have a mental break down.

A week before my birthday Poppie came over. She didn't talk but she handed me a spoon and a gallon of Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream and climbed into my bed. We sat in silence, her doing homework and me watching her. "Kelsey and him kissed."

Poppie looks up and gasps. "That jerk."

I sigh. "I just don't know what to think."

"You know that he really likes you, right? He's talked to us, Clare. He's worried about you."  
>"Yeah well he should have thought about that before he kissed Kelsey."<p>

Poppie puts down her homework and stares at me. "Clare, you know for a fact that that didn't happen. She tried to kiss him and he turned away."

I was starting to feel guilty for being mad. "Well he must have been sending those 'kiss me' signals."

Poppie rolled her eyes at me. "If it looks like a boy and acts like a boy, Kelsey will kiss it."

I look down at the almost empty container of ice cream. "I just don't know what to believe."

"Well my opinion is that you should forgive him but I'm just your poor old best friend who's been slaving away figuring out the plan for your birthday party. Why would you listen to me?" She widened her eyes and frowned, whimpering a little. I nudged her shoulder and asked her how the party planning was going. At that her frown turned into a smile and she could not stop talking.

"Oh it's going marvelously. So I was thinking that the theme should be…" But I had stopped listening. I was thankful for Poppie and respected her opinion but I still didn't know what to think about Evan. I liked him, I really did, but how could I not be mad at him for kissing Kelsey, even if he had turned away. All I felt was confusion and I needed time to think. But time was the only thing I didn't have.


End file.
